Alma Four
April and May 1940. }} The Alma Four (アルマフォアー) is a Japanese camera taking 4×4cm pictures on 127 film, made by Miyoshi Kōgaku and distributed by Banno Bōeki from 1939 to 1943. Dates: advertisements mentioned in , p.334. Attribution to Miyoshi: , p.334 and , items 149–50. Description The Alma Four has a rounded metal body. There is a telescopic tube supporting the lens and shutter assembly. The top plate is removed for film loading, a practice that is common in Japanese 3×4 and 4×4 cameras and initiated by the Picny and Gelto. The whole top plate is covered by a top housing containing the viewfinder, slightly offset to the left. This housing also supports the advance knob at the right end, an accessory shoe and a knob at the left end that looks like the rewind knob of a 35mm camera. This knob is perhaps used to open and close the top plate. There is a small window in front of the accessory shoe, probably displaying an exposure counter. A lever placed behind the top plate perhaps interacts with this exposure counter. The back contains a single red window, protected by a horizontally sliding cover. It is certainly used to set the first exposure. There is a tripod thread in the bottom plate, offset to the right. The name ALMA FOUR is engraved above the viewfinder and it is sometimes embossed in the back leather. Advertisements and original documents The Alma Four was first advertised in the December 1939 issue of , and was featured as a new product in the January 1940 issue of magazine. , p.334. The advertisement placed in the April and May 1940 issues, reproduced below, describes the "Alma 4×4 camera" (アルマ4×4カメラ) as a new model, with no further details. Advertisements in April 1940, p.A13, and May 1940, p.A13. The documents shows a picture of the camera with Selon shutter. The shutter plate is marked ALMA at the top and probably SELON at the bottom. Later advertisements in the same magazine, dated November 1940, January and April 1941, give more details. Advertisements in November 1940, visible in this page of Xylocopal's photolog, in January 1941, reproduced in , p.58, and in April 1941, before p.465. The three documents are nearly identical, except for the absence of any price in the earliest one. They show the same picture as in Spring 1940, and list two versions of the Alma Four (アルマ・フォアー), both with a U.L.L. f/4.5 lens: * Selon shutter (T, B, 5–300), ; * Junior model (ジュニアー型), Kerio shutter (T, B, 25–150), . Both the Selon and Kerio shutters were made by Miyoshi itself. The camera appears in the list of set prices compiled in October 1940 and published in January 1941, under the names "Alma Four Junior" (¥60), "Alma Four" (¥77) and "Alma Four III" (¥125), with no further details. , type 1, sections 5, 7 and 10. The Alma Four III probably has a better lens and shutter combination, but it is otherwise unknown. The Alma Four and Alma Four Junior are also mentioned in the April 1943 government inquiry on Japanese camera production. , items 149–50. In an advertisement dated May 1943, Advertisement in Shashin Shinpō, reproduced in , p.59. the camera is offered as the Alma Four New (アルマ・フォアー新型), but the picture is exactly the same as in the previous advertisements. Two versions are offered, priced at with 1/25 low speed and with 1/5 low speed. Both have the same U.L.L. f/4.5 lens. The shutters are probably the Kerio and Selon but their names and top speeds are not mentioned. The document is the last to mention the camera. , p.334. Actual examples Various examples of the Alma Four are known with the everset Kerio shutter (T, B, 150, 100, 50, 25) and the U.L.L. Anastigmat 5.0cm f/4.5 lens. Example pictured in , p.111, example pictured in , item 3002, and example observed in an online auction. The shutter plate is marked KERIO at the top, and the aperture scale is at the bottom. These cameras correspond to the Alma Four Junior listed in the advertisements. At least two examples are known with the Kerio shutter and a Ukas Anastigmat 50mm f/4.5 lens, of the type mounted on the Olympic. It is not known if this is an original fitting. Examples observed in a website which is now dead, and in an online auction. One example has been observed with a U.L.L. Anastigmat 5.0cm f/4.5 lens and an unknown shutter giving 5–300, B, T speeds. Example observed in an online auction. (The shutter has no visible markings, and the speed range does not correspond to the Selon, which has T, B, 5–300 speeds in that order instead.) The aperture is set by an index above the shutter housing. Notes Bibliography Original documents * . Advertisements by Banno Bōeki: ** April 1940, p.A13; ** May 1940, p.A13; ** April 1941, before p.465. * Items 149–50. * Type 1, sections 5, 7 and 10. Recent sources * Items 12–4. * P.111. * Item 3002. Links In Japanese: * Advertisement for the Alma Four published in November 1940, visible in this page about old camera magazines in Xylocopal's photolog Category: Japanese 4x4 viewfinder Category: A Category: 1939